Jeremiah Bonsu almost certainly won’t score a point in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

The odds are pretty high that the Pickerington native won’t even leave the bench for the Dayton Flyers (24-7), who play Wichita State (30-4) on Friday in Indianapolis.

Bonsu won’t mind one bit. In an event that celebrates Cinderellas, his mere presence in a Dayton uniform is the longest of longshots.

Bonsu didn’t make his Pickerington North team until his senior year. He scored a grand total of one point for the Panthers.

Bonsu was grateful to become a team manager for the Flyers. But he never quite gave up on his dream of being on the team and spent much of his free time at the gym working on his game.

When injuries and the dismissals of Northland grads Jalen Robinson and Devin Scott for burglary left the team short on bodies for practice two years ago, Bonsu was told he’d been promoted to player.

He figured he would return to being a manager last year, but he’d earned his keep as a walk-on with his effort and, well, mouth. Bonsu is proud of being a trash-talker – to opponents during games, to teammates in practice.

But it goes beyond that. He believes his role is to echo the coaches’ message and to encourage teammates to be the best they can be.

“Even though he doesn’t step out on the court with us every night, Jeremiah is a leader behind closed doors,” senior guard Kyle Davis said. “He stays vocal. He reaches out to the captains and tells us what we need to talk to the team about and what we need to do. To me, Jeremiah is a captain beyond captains.”

The 5-foot-11 Bonsu has played only twice in his career, both this year at the very end of blowouts. In one of them, he was open in the corner, but he passed up an open shot, to his everlasting regret.

“I’ve seen the film multiple times,” he said. “I should have shot it. Walking around campus, I still have people saying to me, ‘Shoulda shot it. You know you were open, right?’ That’s still eating at me and will eat at me for a long time.”

But Bonsu does not clamor for another chance.

“No one believes me when I tell them this,” he said, “but I couldn’t care less about playing. A walk-on’s role isn’t to get into the game.

“If we win, I’m happy. How can I say something to a teammate who gets frustrated about minutes if I’m worried about getting in?”

That Bonsu attended Dayton in the first place is a surprise. He was leaning toward Ohio State or Ohio University when he visited UD with his mom, Naana Frempong,

“She fell in love with the university and kind of made that decision for me,” Bonsu said. “Kind of mother-knows-best. That decision she made for me is the greatest decision of my life.”

The Flyers’ seniors have won more games than any class in school history – 102. It has also endured significant adversity every season. This year’s was tragic. Last May, Steve McElvene, a budding star at center, died suddenly of an enlarged heart. Bonsu paid tribute to McElvene in a touching Players Tribune piece.

Because of all they’ve done and overcome, Bonsu and his fellow seniors are revered among Flyers fans. On Senior Day at UD Arena on March 1 before Dayton defeated Virginia Commonwealth to clinch the Atlantic 10 regular-season title, they all received rousing ovations.

Bonsu escorted his parents on to the floor. Even his mom, the impetus for his attending UD, was blown away by the sell-out crowd.

“She’s like, ‘There are 13,000 people here? So you guys are kind of a big deal,’” Bonsu said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I guess so.’

“Flyer Nation has been fantastic. I won’t be able to thank them enough for the encouragement they’ve given me. People who don’t even know me love me. People around here will do anything for us.”

Bonsu is on track to graduate in May with a degree in sports management. He wants to become a college coach and will seek a graduate assistant job to start on that path.

“Basketball is my passion,” he said. “I don’t want it to end here, by any means. Even if it takes me a while to find a spot, based on my track record, I’ll keep working and it’ll eventually work out.”

If Bonsu has proven anything, it’s that long odds won’t dissuade him.

Brabinowitz@dispatch.com

@brdispatch

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